It was a nail-biter, as are most games between the Coltsand Texans, but Indianapolis got a much-needed win on Sunday, avoiding a dreaded 0-3 start to the season.
With the dust having settled on Sunday's game, let's take a look back at the Colts' performance with three things we learned.
Defense overcomes offense's miscues
The Colts' defense gave up a score late, but they weren't exactly put in a great position following another Daniel Jones fumble. But for the most part on Sunday, the defense played well and helped position the Colts to win the game.
CJ Stroud would pass for just 167 yards, while the Houston run game averaged only 3.3 yards per attempt. The Texans were also just 4-of-11 on third downs and 0-for-1 on fourth downs. Houston punted the ball five times as well.
This was
a much improved performance by the Colts' defense, who struggled to stop much of anything in Weeks 1 and 2.
It wasn't Daniel Jones' best day
Jones made a poor decision on the interception he threw, which took points off the board. He also put the ball on the ground three times, with the Texans' defense recovering two of those fumbles. The Colts ended up losing the turnover battle 3-0, and it's not often a team still wins the game with that big of a differential.
Not helping matters was facing the Texans' disruptive defensive front. That said, Jones was able to generate some chunk plays through the air at times when under duress. The passing game also found success over the middle of the field, while Josh Downs and Keenan Allen had excellent days.
Spencer Shrader comes up big
Early on, we didn't know if we'd see Shrader on the field after he was listed as questionable with a groin injury. However, watching Shrader kick, you never would have known he was dealing with an injury. Shrader was 4-for-4 on field goals, which included making a 58-yarder and the game-winner. He was also 1-for-1 on extra point attempts.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: 3 lessons learned from Colts' Week 3 win over Texans
